KANSAS CITY — When he’s at his best, Roberto Osuna gives the impression he is as sharp mentally as he is physically, required tools of the trade for one of baseball’s best relief pitchers.

But life has become significantly more complicated for the talented 22-year-old Toronto Blue Jays reliever, who is grappling with issues that go far beyond his ability to throw a 97 mile per hour fastball from a pitcher’s mound.

Osuna on Saturday revealed that he’s been bogged down by feelings of anxiousness over the past week, tricks playing so deep in his mind that he was unavailable to pitch when the Jays found themselves in a ninth-inning jam here on Friday night.

While close to 40,000 people in Kauffman Stadium and more than a million Canadian baseball fans wondered why their clutch closer sat in the dugout, Osuna had much deeper worries to untangle.

“I feel a little bit anxious, a little bit weird,” Osuna said through team translator Josue Peley prior to Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Royals in the second of a three-game weekend series. “I feel like I’m not myself right now. I feel great physically. It’s just more mentally.

“I really don’t know how to explain it, I just feel anxious. I feel like I’m lost a little bit right now.”

The admission was the latest bombshell to hit the Jays and a development that came as a surprise given Osuna’s stellar work of late, a run of 18 consecutive successful saves, the longest active streak in the major leagues.

With his recent form, Osuna was starting to get mentions as a potential candidate for next month’s All-Star Game in Miami. And he has certainly been the young and dynamic star of a bullpen that has helped the Jays through various troubles with the starting rotation.

When he was unavailable to work the ninth on Friday — and the Jays gave up four runs with two out to lose 5-4 — Osuna suddenly became a huge focus.

While manager John Gibbons was understandably tight-lipped about the situation following Friday’s devastating loss, it was revealed on Saturday that his young bullpen gun has had these feelings of anxiousness for a number of days.

“He’s been up and down the last few days,” a team source told Postmedia. “We will help him work through this. The first thing is finding out exactly what the issue is. We just don’t know at this point.”

The challenge is first diagnosing what exactly is going on with Osuna before finding ways to treat him. The team didn’t want to comment officially until that happens, but assistant general manager Tony LaCava had a conversation with the native of Sinaloa, Mexico on the field prior to Saturday’s game.

Osuna has went through something a lot of us (I wrote a book about it) have went through in baseball. Don't mistake his openness as weakness

One thing is certain: the Jays are determined to do right by Osuna, who last week become the youngest player in major league history to record 75 career saves.

According to a source, during Friday’s game, Osuna actually volunteered to get ready in the ninth as things were about to implode on his team. That speaks to his competitive nature. But having spent much of the game in the dugout rather than the bullpen and given his situation, Gibbons and his staff did the right thing and kept him out of action, well aware of the potential consequences on that night’s boxscore.

And sure enough, the Jays immediately felt the sting when the Royals scored four runs with two out in the bottom of the ninth, as Ryan Tepera, Aaron Loup and Jason Grilli couldn’t get the job done.

On Saturday, the soft-spoken Osuna was calm when he met with a handful of reporters in the Jays clubhouse, but also at a loss for what’s been dragging him down.

“I wish I knew how to get out of here and how to get out of this,” Osuna said. “We’re working on it. We’re trying to find ways to see what can make me feel better. But to be honest, I just don’t know.”

Osuna’s most recent appearance came on Wednesday in Texas, where he converted his 18th consecutive save opportunity. With the Jays getting beat up on Thursday, his services weren’t required, but team officials were already aware of his struggles. He maintained that there are no physical issues, something that certainly has been backed up by his play of late and a fact that only adds to his frustration.

“This has nothing to do with me being on the field,” Osuna said. “I feel great out there. It’s just when I’m not on the field that I feel weird and a little bit lost.”